Author: Sean Vanderaa

Texas law doesn’t define or outlaw “speed traps,” a term generally describing a part of road, often near a change in speed limit, regularly policed by officers or devices trying to catch speeders.

However, Texas bans citations based on images captured by cameras installed at traffic signals. Cities are also prohibited from maintaining informal or formal quotas that encourage officers to issue a target number of citations.

Cities with populations fewer than 5,000 can have up to 30% of their annual tax revenue come from traffic citations. Any funds exceeding the limit are sent to the Texas comptroller.

The two “sacred settlements” currently operating in Minnesota — Sacred Settlement Mosaic in St. Paul and Sacred Settlement: Prince of Peace in Roseville — do not require that residents believe in a particular religion or attend religious services to live in the community. 

These settlements of tiny houses, built on church property, are set up to provide housing and support to people who are unhoused. Residents live alongside  “intentional neighbors,” who have moved into the settlements to provide community. The idea of sacred settlements is the brainchild of Settled, a Minnesota nonprofit. 

According to Settled, it is up to individual churches to define residency requirements for their tiny houses. Currently, however, all intentional neighbors in these settlements are people of faith. 

Another sacred settlement, associated with the Church of the Open Door in Maple Grove, is set to open in 2026, and it’s not yet known what its requirements will be.

A recent study found that adding red seaweed to cattle feed could decrease methane emissions from cows by up to 90%, but researchers say further testing is necessary to make sure it’s safe and effective.  

Methane is a byproduct of cattle digestion and enters the atmosphere through cow burps and flatulence, and when manure is applied on fields. The compound bromoform in red seaweed inhibits enzymes that microbes in cow stomachs use to create methane. More study is needed to ensure bromoform is safe for cattle and people, researchers say. And new methods of producing red seaweed may be necessary to make it cheaper and more available.  

Agricultural emissions make up 10.4% of Colorado’s greenhouse gas emissions. Over half of agricultural emissions come from livestock, with methane from digestion accounting for nearly 80% of those emissions.

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. 

The definition of mass shootings varies, but research has found the U.S. has the most.

Reasons include high gun ownership, “cultural factors like individualism and fame-seeking, sensationalized media coverage, and gaps in mental health care and law enforcement,” said James Densley of the Violence Prevention Project Research Center.

According to two peer-reviewed studies:

U.S. mass shootings accounted for 73% of all incidents and 62% of all fatalities in developed countries from 1998–2019.

That study’s author wrote in February there were 109 U.S. mass shootings from 2000-2022 and 35 in comparable countries. The U.S. accounted for 33% of the population of the 36 countries, but 76% of the incidents and 70% of victim fatalities.

The U.S. had 30.8% of all mass shooters from 1966–2012, despite having less than 5% of the world’s population.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan made the U.S. claim after a mass school shooting Dec. 16 in Madison, Wisconsin, which he represents.

Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law in June 2023 that eliminates paper license plates starting July 1, 2025.

The law, introduced into the Texas Legislature as House Bill 718, substitutes paper license plates with temporary metal license plates. 

State Rep. Craig Goldman, R-Fort Worth, introduced the bill because of an increase in the number of counterfeit paper license plates. 

Law enforcement officials estimated that more than 1.2 million fraudulent paper license plates were created in Texas in 2021. Investigators also estimated fake paper plates cost the state around $220 million from 2018 to 2021.

The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles began rolling out the changes in July 2024. Estimated costs range from $13.5 million to $21.5 million annually over the next five years but will be offset by a new $10 license plate fee.